Tidbits of the Rogue Valley Vol 2 Issue 20

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May 18, 2016

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VITAMINS

by Janet Spencer

www.TanksPlumbing.net/review

There are 13 different vitamins, all of which are essential for human life. Come along with Tidbits as we take our vitamins!

AN ESSENTIAL ROLE • The human body is composed of a series of complex chemical reactions. These chemical reactions occur with the help of enzymes, and the primary function of vitamins is to help our bodies create those enzymes, and help the enzymes complete their jobs. When the chemical reactions occur, the vitamins get used up and so the body needs more vitamins on a daily basis.

Without vitamins, chemical reactions that depend on those vitamins come to a stop and the result can be catastrophic. Vitamins cannot be manufactured inside the human body and must come from food.

• Plants manufacture all of the vitamins humans need except for vitamins D, B12, and (to a large extent) vitamin A. Vitamins help a plant with the process of photosynthesis. The more photosynthesis a plant has going on, the higher the level of vitamins will be contained in that plant.

This is why light colored vegetables like iceberg lettuce have lower levels of vitamins than dark-colored vegetables like kale and spinach. (Cont’d next page)

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VITAMIN A • Vitamin A is found in animal products such as organ meat, full fat milk, butter, and cod liver oil. It’s also present in some vegetables such as dark leafy greens and foods rich in beta carotene such as carrots, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and cantaloupe. But the amount of vitamin A in plants is tiny compared to the amount in animal matter.

• Vitamin A is stored in the liver, so the human body can usually survive up to a year without taking in any vitamin A at all. But after that, a person who is not receiving any vitamin A will first experience night blindness and then go blind entirely. This problem is particularly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The World Health Organization estimates that between 500,000 and a million children go blind every year, and up to 90% of those children die of complications related to their vitamin deficiency.

• Today, over 70 countries have programs to deliver vitamin A supplementation to its populations in order to reduce child mortality and blindness.

VITAMIN B • Pregnant women need to get enough B9 (also called folic acid) or their child runs the risk of being born with neurological damage. The amount of B9 that is needed each day during pregnancy is equal to about the weight of 4 grains of salt. Beans, lentils, and spinach are high in vitamin B9.

• The amount of vitamin B12 needed each day is even less than that, equivalent to 1/67th of a single grain of salt. But without that tiny amount, the result is memory loss, depression, nerve damage, and anemia. Vitamin B12 is primarily present in animal-based foods such as meat and eggs, which makes strict vegans susceptible to deficiency.

Reducing a Repeat of Bladder Stones DEAR PAW’S CORNER: My 5-year-old shihtzu cross, “Louie,” just had surgery to remove bladder stones. They were 90 percent calcium oxalate and 10 percent calcium phosphate. My vet has prescribed a strict diet of (expensive) food purchased only through their office.

I am feeding Louie the special food from the vet, but I’m not certain this is the right choice.

I found some online sites that recommend a homemade diet of chicken, rice and peas. What would you recommend to prevent a recurrence of these stones? -- Bev R., Melville, Saskatchewan, Canada DEAR BEV: Ouch! I’m sorry that Louie is going through this. It’s great that you’re doing all you can to prevent a recurrence, including knowing the type of stones he has.

Louie’s bladder stones were determined to be calcium oxalate, which can form when a dog’s urine is acidic. There are two other common types of bladder stones that dogs can suffer from: struvite, formed in alkaline urine; and urate, seen often in dogs with liver disease.

The issue with oxalate-type stones is that they generally must be surgically removed.

That’s different from struvite stones, which might be dissolved through medication and

diet. However, both types may be PREVENTED through a special diet. For more information, go to www.monicasegal.com/wordpress/ and search for “bladder stones.” Her blog can give greater details about types of stones and appropriate diets.

Going into diet specifics would take up more room that I have in this column. I can say that you need to make sure Louie drinks plenty of water.

From there, keep researching, and coordinate with your vet.

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ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Home conditions still demand attention. Also, keep an open mind about a sudden question of trust involving a close friend. All the facts are not yet in.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) With summer just around the corner, travel begins to dominate your sign. Make plans carefully to avoid potential problems in the first half of June.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) A romantic Libra sets a challenge that your “sensible” side might question, but your idealistic self finds the prospect too intriguing to resist. The choice is yours.

CANCER ( June 21 to July 22) Those tense times in your personal life are just about over.

Concentrate on reaffirming relationships. Your love of travel opens a surprising new opportunity.

LEO ( July 23 to August 22) The Big Cat usually loves to be in the center of things. But this week it might be wiser to watch and learn from the sidelines. A Pisces wants to make you purr.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) “New” is your watchword this week. Be open to new ideas, both on the job and in your personal life.

A romantic Aries or Sagittarian beckons.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Some difficult family decisions have to be faced, but be sure to get more facts before you act. Be careful not to neglect your health during this trying time.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) You still need to support a loved one through a difficult time. Meanwhile, things continue to work out to your benefit in the workplace.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Aspects continue to favor expanding social opportunities. A Gemini reaches out to offer a chance for re-establishing a once-close relationship.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) There’s a potential for misunderstanding in both your job and your personal life. A full explanation of your intentions helps smooth things over.

AQUARIUS ( January 20 to February 18) You might be feeling restless on the job, but delay making any major moves until all the facts are in. A Scorpio has a surprising revelation.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Your business sense works to your advantage as you sort through the possibilities that are opening up.

A Libra is Cupid’s best bet for your romantic prospects.

BORN THIS WEEK: You have a gift for being open-minded about people. This helps you make friends easily. You would do very well in public service.

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1. GAMES: What are the odds of getting four cards of a kind in five-card poker?

2. EXPLORERS: Where was the explorer Marco Polo born?

3. SCIENCE: What is the green pigment in plants called?

4. MYTHOLOGY: Which of the Greek Muses was associated with history?

5. GEOMETRY: What is a polygon with eight sides?

6. ANIMAL KINGDOM: What is the average gestation period of a hamster?

7. GEOGRAPHY: What is the only river that flows both north and south of the equator?

8. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: Which of Santa’s reindeer comes last in the list alphabetically?

9. LITERATURE: Who wrote the 19th-century novel “Sense and Sensibility”?

10. ASTRONOMY: What planet is closest in size to our moon?

1. In 2015, pitcher Max Scherzer twice set a Washington Nationals record for most strikeouts in a game (16, then 17).

Who had held the mark?

2. What two teams did Reds pitcher Johnny Vander Meer back-toback no-hit during the 1938 season?

3. In 2015, the Colts’ Andrew Luck joined four other quarterbacks who passed for 300-plus yards in three consecutive NFL playoff games.

Who else did it?

4. Who was the first African-American Division I men’s head basketball coach?

5. Detroit’s Dylan Larkin set an NHL All-Star Skills record in 2016 for fastest lap around a full rink (13.17 seconds). Who had held the mark?

6. Name the American runner who captured Olympic gold medals in 1948 and 1952 in the 800m track race?

7. Jason Day, at the 2015 PGA Championship, became the first player to finish 20-under par at a major championship. What had been the lowest mark, and who held it?

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Birds Will Flock to Homemade Feeder

VITAMIN C • Vitamin C is necessary for the production of collagen. Collagen is the protein that forms connective tissues that hold our bodies together. The word collagen comes from the Greek word for glue. Without collagen, the body breaks down, an illness called scurvy.

• Between the time Columbus landed in the New World in 1492 and the time steam engines made ocean travel speedy in the mid-1800s, it’s estimated that over 2 million sailors died of scurvy. On any given voyage, about half of the sailors would die of scurvy, which was more than died of shipwreck, combat, storms, and diseases combined.

• James Lind was a Scottish doctor who helped discover the connection between vitamin C and the prevention of scurvy. In 1747 he took 12 sailors who were all suffering from scurvy and divided them into six pairs. All the men ate the same food and lived in the same quarters but he gave each pair a different remedy to try to cure them. The remedies were widely varied and included such things as garlic, seawater, and cream of tartar. But the two sailors whose remedy included citrus fruit recovered from their scurvy so quickly that they were able to assist the doctor in his experiments. Lind largely failed to recognize the significance of this discovery and scurvy continued to plague sailors for many decades to come.

VITAMIN D • Vitamin D is not naturally available in very many foods. The best sources are fatty fish such as tuna, salmon, mackerel, and cod liver oil. However, the body is able to synthesize its own vitamin D through exposure to ultraviolet light. When you take a vitamin D pill, the contents of that pill may have originated with lanolin from sheep’s wool.

What child isn’t thrilled to look out a window and see a bird or two peck-peck-pecking away at treats that were placed just for them in a feeder your family has created?

You and your kids will have fun collecting natural supplies for decorating a plain half-gallon cardboard carton salvaged from the recycling bin.

A pinecone here, crisscrossed twigs there. A few leaves tucked in between some bark, and acorns on the side. Then comes the food -- a bird-friendly shish kebab!

Here’s the stuff you need: --One clean, half-gallon cardboard juice or milk carton --2 wooden skewers, or thin dowels 10-inches long --Wire or twine for hanging --Food items for a kebab, such as chunks of orange, apple, watermelon, dried bread, bagels, etc.

--Bird seed (optional) Here’s the fun: Depending on the style of the carton, close or glue the top shut.

Cut out a 4-1/2-inch-high and 2-1/2-inch-wide opening on all four sides of the carton about an inch up from the base.

For a bird perch, poke a small hole below a side opening. Poke a matching hole into the opposite side of the carton, then insert one of the dowels through both small holes. Make a hole and poke the other skewer through the top side edge of the feeder for the shish kebab. (If using a dowel, sharpen one end with a pencil sharpener.) For the time being, rest that end inside the feeder until you are ready to thread food on it.

To hang the feeder, poke a hole in the top middle of the carton and loop a piece of wire or twine through the hole.

It’s time to decorate. Using a low-temperature glue gun or household glue and brush, start applying twigs, pieces of bark, dried pods, leaves, etc., wherever your imagination says they belong. You might add trinkets or a silk flower if the space seems right.

For the shish kebab, reach through a side opening of the feeder and thread the fruit and bread chunks on the skewer, then poke the end at an angle in an inside corner of the carton. Pour some birdseed onto the base of the feeder, if you wish.

Hang from a tree or bird feeder stand. As birds come to your feeder, identify them, take pictures and talk about your sightings.

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For Advertising Call (541) 203-0233 TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING

• Many people feel that if a little bit is good, then more must be better, but that is not always the case.

The healthiest and safest doses of vitamins are the ones that appear naturally in food. Taking too much vitamin D on a regular basis can eventually cause calcium deposits in places where calcium deposits don’t belong, such as your arteries or kidneys. Excess vitamin D can also interfere with blood clotting. Too much vitamin A can cause liver damage, birth defects, and death in extreme cases.

Too much vitamin C can cause kidney stones.

TOO LITTLE OF A GOOD THING

• In World War II the Nazis cut off all supplies headed for Holland. Famine set in quickly. About 22,000 people died of starvation and another quarter of a million were made ill. The average weight loss among the population was about 20% of body weight. Nine months after the famine ended, the birth rate dropped by 50%.

• After the war ended, researchers wanted to find out how that period of starvation affected the citizens who survived it. They were not surprised to find that children who had been in the womb when their mothers experienced starvation had increased risk of physical and mental health problems as they grew into adults. They suffered from higher rates of depression, cardiovascular problems, and type 2 diabetes. But researchers were very surprised to find that these negative effects extended not only to the children but also to the grandchildren of the people who had been involved. The grandchildren of the mothers who had experienced starvation also grew up to have higher than normal levels of health problems, all due to famine conditions suffered by their grandparents.

To Your Good Health

By Keith Roach, M.D.

Acid Reflux Surgery Has Side Effects

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am so tired of gastric juices coming up and spraying my mouth. I am currently on a “last resort” medicine. My doctor wants to try it for three weeks. If it doesn’t work, he’s going to perform a Nissen fundoplication.

From what I’ve read, there would be nothing more coming up. Could you explain this procedure? What will happen with swallowed air, and what will happen if I get sick to my stomach and (shudder) need to vomit? -- S.S. ANSWER: Large volumes of stomach acid coming into the mouth is an accepted indication for

surgical treatment of reflux disease. Sometimes, the acid is associated with excess saliva and is called “water brash.”

Prior to considering surgery, it is worthwhile to make sure the medication treatment is as good as it can be. Proton pump inhibitors such as omeprazole should be taken 30 minutes before eating. Weight loss is helpful if overweight. Raising the head of the bed 6 to 8 inches (by inserting blocks under the legs of the head of the bed or using a plastic wedge under the mattress) and avoiding dietary triggers (coffee, chocolate, carbonated drinks, highfat foods) should be tried. Baclofen, a powerful muscle relaxant with many possible side effects, may be the “last resort” medicine you are taking.

When all else fails, surgery may relieve symptoms.

A Nissen fundoplication is when the upper part of the stomach, the fundus, is plicated (wrapped) around the esophagus and stitched in place. This can be done via endoscopy or as an open procedure. It is effective at reducing symptoms in 85 percent to 90 percent of patients.

Most people are unable to vomit and have less or no ability to belch, leading to bloating, increased intestinal gas and flatulence. Discomfort during eating is common. There are modifications of the surgical procedure designed to reduce side effects

and complications while maintaining effectiveness, but a description of what these all are technically is in your surgeon’s domain.

Readers: The booklet on Acid Reflux, Heartburn and Hiatal Hernia explains these common gastrointestinal disorders in greater detail. Readers can obtain a copy by writing: Dr. Roach -- No. 501W, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803. Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.75 U.S./$6 Canada with the recipient’s printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery. *** DEAR DR. ROACH: I have been riding my bike outdoors, same saddle, 130 miles a month for over three years. Out of the blue my left sit bone, or the tissue around it, is so sore. I can’t quit riding -- HELP! -- A.D.C. ANSWER: A good rule of thumb for an athletic injury or sudden soreness is that resting it for a period of time usually is a good idea. Get off the bike for a while and try some different types of exercising: walk, run, swim or lift weights, but give your soft tissues a chance to recover. You may simply have overdone it. If things don’t get better, go ahead and make an appointment to get checked out.

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Page 5

ing that law, you could be sentenced to death.

* It was 20th-century television, film and culture critic John Leonard who made the following sage observation: “In the cellars of the night, when the mind starts moving around old trunks of bad times, the pain of this and the shame of that, the memory of a small boldness is a hand to hold.” * You probably won’t be surprised to learn that a group of hedgehogs is known as a prickle.

Amazing Animals

FROGS

• “Amphibian” comes from the Greek words meaning “two lives” since the frog can live both in the water and on the land.

• Frogs always croak, right? Wrong. The European tree frog sounds like a quacking duck. Another kind of frog sounds like a cat meowing.

* In almost every state, there is a statute on the books making it illegal to jump off the top of an office building. Unsurprisingly, there’s not much call to prosecute those who violate the law; district attorneys aren’t in the habit of filing charges against corpses. However, in a few states, if you survive jumping off a building and are tried and convicted of violat-

* Those who study such things say that among social media users, those who use Twitter are less likely to smoke than users of other platforms. * Just as humans have distinctive fingerprints, dogs have nose prints -- no two are the same. * You doubtless know of Theodore Geisel -better known as Dr. Seuss, the beloved author of such children’s classics as “The Cat in the Hat,” “Horton Hears a Who” and “Green Eggs and Ham,” among many others. You might not realize, though, that his first book, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” was rejected by more than two dozen publishers before it finally made it into print. * Did you know that dogs appear in the Bible?

Yep -- 41 times. No mention of cats, though.

• Frogs have no ribs.

• A frog closes its eyes by pulling the eyeballs deeper into the sockets, which serves to close the eyelids.

• A frog’s tongue is attached to the front of its mouth to give a longer reach.

• Do frogs have teeth? Just two tiny teeth in the upper jaw, which keep prey from getting away.

• A frog does not need to drink water because it absorbs water through its skin.

• A frog’s thigh, shin, and foot are of nearly equal length, to make jumping easier.

• A bullfrog with a six-inch (15 cm) body can leap ten times its own body length.

• Tadpoles are generally born being one sex or the other, but environmental influences can change the frog’s sex. If food is scarce or the temperature is not right, the transformation of female tadpoles into male frogs keeps the population down until conditions improve in the pond.

• S ome frogs have lived for 20 years. One toad lived 36 years.

• If you pick up a frog while you have insect repellent on your hands, the frog will absorb it through the skin and become very sick.

Grow Stronger, Live Longer

Here’s yet another reason to try to stay fit: Seniors with more muscle mass have a lower risk of death.

That’s according to researchers who spent eight years surveying 6,400 patients with cardiovascular disease. They divided the patients into four groups: high muscle/high fat, high muscle/low fat, low muscle/high fat and low muscle/low fat. The winners (those with improved survival odds) were those with the high muscle/low fat combination. The level of fat doesn’t matter as much as the muscle mass to reduce risk of death.

The study jibes with one from two years ago that determined that BMI levels aren’t as important as body composition -- in other words, muscle mass.

How do seniors gain muscle mass? It’s not easy, as we tend to start losing muscle at about age 40.

The first step to build muscle is to consult your doctor before you change your diet or start any new kind of exercise.

Ask if the following changes are correct for you: Protein -- While it helps build muscle, seniors shouldn’t get too much because it can stress the kidneys. This is where your doctor can help calculate how much you should get in a day.

Carbs -- We need to burn these for energy. Without carbohydrates you’ll use protein for energy, instead of using your protein to build muscles.

Water -- You need the right amount to help absorb the nutrients in your food.

Again, your doctor can calculate it for you. Measure the amount of water you should have in a day and keep it handy on the counter or in the fridge.

Working Out -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has put a 126-page book online called “Growing Stronger” for seniors who want to start strength training. Look for it at www.cdc. gov.

• Handling a toad does not cause warts. (continued next page)

PTSD Documentary Is Not to be Missed

Post-traumatic stress disorder can be a mystery to those who try to help and a nightmare for veterans who have it. Sometimes it takes a film to show the reality so both sides can understand.

“Soledad O’Brien Presents: The War Comes Home -- The New Battlefront” is a film that follows two veterans on the edge of suicide as they attend a life-changing boot camp.

Healing, meditation and team-building exercises are part of the treatment over the course of five days, with cameras recording their recovery.

The film will be shown on one night only, Tuesday, May 24, at theaters across the country. Afterward, a follow-up film will feature a panel of experts, celebrities and community leaders who will talk about the

challenges veterans with PTSD face, as well as how we’re helping -- and not helping.

Who should see this film? Everyone, including health-care professionals who work with veterans with PTSD, veterans who have PTSD and need a way to explain it to friends and family, those friends and family who want to help but don’t know how, any veterans who might have buddies who are suicidal, law enforcement, policymakers, those who work with the homeless, civilians who want to understand it ... everyone.

All showings will be at 7 p.m. local time.

For more information and to order tickets, go online to www.FathomEvents.com. If you don’t see a local theater on the list, give them a call or keep checking back as new locations are added. In looking through the different theaters showing the film, it appears that the price per ticket can range from $15 to $18, with AARP members getting in for $12.50 at some locations. If you order online, there is a $1.35 surcharge.

Luffa Vase Q: My mother received a brown Luffa vase that measures 7 1/4 inches in about 1935 or 1936 for a birthday present. I have been offered $50 for it by a collector. -- Rob, Rio Rancho, New Mexico A: The Luffa pattern was introduced by Roseville Pottery in 1934. It featured small yellow or white flowers and large green leaves on a wavy ridged background. Background colors are dominant green with brown accents or dominant brown with variegated green accents. According to “Warman’s Roseville

Pottery: Identification and Price Guide” by Denise Rago, your vase is valued in the $150$250 range. *** Q: I have an old cabinet purchased from a London museum by an Indian chief who became a millionaire in Connecticut during the 1920s. The man died during the 1930s. Anything you can tell me about this cabinet would be appreciated.

-- V.A., Rio Rancho, New Mexico A: Your question is impossible to answer. Who was the chief? Where was the museum? Is there any documentation? Without these facts, it is simply another piece of old furniture. If you suspect your cabinet is valuable, hire the services of a good professional appraiser. There are several excellent ones in Albuquerque who can help you. *** Q: Several decades ago I worked for a highway crew in Nebraska, and occasionally while working in remote areas I would find an old electrical insulator. Although I didn’t mean to become a collector, I did. I have about four dozen older insulators and would like to find out if they have much value. -- Carl, Hastings,

Nebraska A: The National Insulator Association was founded in 1973 and has members scattered throughout the country. This might be a good place to begin your search. Contact is Donald R. Briel, P.O. Box 188, Providence, UT 043320188. Check out the website at www.nia.org. *** Q: I have a Girl Scout camera that was given to me during the 1940s. It is in excellent condition, and I assume still works. What is it worth? -- Cynthia, Shreveport, Louisiana A: Your camera is probably in a black case and was manufactured by the Herbert George Company. It would retail in the $50-$75 range.

Write to Larry Cox in care of KFWS, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803, or send e-mail to questionsforcox@aol.com. Due to the large volume of mail he receives, Mr. Cox cannot personally answer all reader questions, nor does he do appraisals. Do not send any materials requiring return mail.

FROGS (cont’d) • Frogs don’t always lay their eggs in ponds: • The Malaysian hill frog lives high in the mountains where there are few ponds, so it lays its eggs in damp moss that hangs from trees. The tadpoles develop into frogs there.

• One kind of poison dart frog lays eggs on moist vegetation, and then watches over the eggs until the tadpoles hatch. Then the young crawl up on the backs of either parent and are literally glued in place by a mucous secretion.

They are attached there for more than a week, until the parent can find a pool to release them.

The water loosens the mucous bond, and the young swim free.

• Bullfrogs can lay 20,000 eggs at a time. On the other hand, some kinds of dart-poison frogs will lay a single tiny egg in each of the miniature “ponds” that forms when rainwater collects in the base of a leaf. The mother frog will also lay a number of unfertilized eggs next to the fertilized egg so the tadpole will have something to eat when it hatches.

• The eggs of the horned marsupial frog are placed on the mother’s back, where a pouch of skin grows around them to protect them.

Tadpoles of the frog hatch and develop in that

pouch, completing their development into frogs without ever seeing water.

• The male midwife toad will wrap the long sticky strands of eggs around his legs, hopping around with them until they are ready to hatch.

Then he deposits them in the water.

• The eggs of the leopard frog are white on one side and black on the other. The white part contains the genetic material; the black part contains a barrier to ultraviolet light. When exposed to light, the egg rotates its black side up, blocking the UV radiation and absorbing heat that helps with incubation.

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SUPPLEMENTS & SYNTHETICS

• Pres. Abraham Lincoln created the United States Bureau of Agriculture which contained within itself the Division of Chemistry. The Division of Chemistry eventually evolved into the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA. At the time it was instigated, the Division of Chemistry had exactly one employee who was in charge of things like finding out what vendors were diluting their milk with water, or adding ground up lice to brown sugar, since ground up lice looks just like brown sugar.

• It wasn’t until the year 1906 that the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed by Congress, the nation’s first federal law concerning food and drugs. The law was strengthened and bolstered in 1938, closing many loopholes and putting the burden upon the manufacturers to prove their products were safe and effective.

• Today, the FDA regulates things such as food, cosmetics, tobacco products, medical devices, veterinarian supplies, pharmaceuticals, and even blood transfusions. However, the FDA is not responsible for testing or approving nutritional supplements. If a particular supplement claims that it will help your arthritis, the FDA is not responsible for testing that hypothesis or for making sure the supplement doesn’t have any side effects. Manufacturers are not required to prove that their product is safe or effective before releasing it on the market. There is little the FDA can do about that.

• The only time the FDA has been successful in pulling a dangerous supplement off the shelves was when it outlawed ephedra, a stimulant that caused over 100 deaths.

• Today there are over 85,000 supplements and vitamins products available for sale in America. About 50% of American adults use some sort of dietary supplement.

• In a study done in the year 2013, Canadian researchers tested the ingredients in 44 different supplements and vitamins. Onethird of the products did not contain any amount of the substances listed on their labels whatsoever. Many of the products were nothing more than powdered rice.

1. Stephen Strasburg struck out 14 in a game in 2010.

2. The Boston Braves and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

3. Dan Fouts, Jim Kelly, Warren Moon and Drew Brees.

4. Will Robinson was hired as coach of Illinois State in 1970.

5. Toronto’s Mike Gartner did a lap in 13.38 seconds in 1996.

6. Mal Whitfield.

7. Tiger Woods shot 19-under par at the 2000 British Open.

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• The majority of the world’s supply of synthetic vitamins comes from China, which exports about 200,000 tons of vitamins per year.

• Synthetic vitamin A comes from acetone and formaldehyde. Synthetic niacin (vitamin B3) is made using a synthetic fiber that is also used in carpets and conveyor belts. Synthetic thiamine (vitamin B1) comes from coal tar. All synthetic vitamins are chemically identical to natural vitamins available in food, but natural vitamins in food come in a complete package that also offers other beneficial compounds.

• Associations such as the American Cancer Association, the American Heart Association, and the American Diabetes Association recommend that healthy people without nutritional deficiencies who eat a balanced diet avoid taking any multivitamins at all. It’s not because the vitamins are harmful, it’s just that they are unnecessary. However, pregnant women should take extra doses of folic acid, elderly women should take a daily dose of calcium, and vegans should supplement their diet with vitamin B12.

• A study published in the year 2012 which followed 15,000 middle-aged doctors found that none of the doctors showed any improvement in their risk of cancer when they took high doses of vitamin C, E, and beta-carotene. High doses of vitamins also had no effect whatsoever on their cognitive functions or their risk of heart attack.

Answers 1. 4,164 to 1 2. Venice, Italy 3. Chlorophyll 4. Clio 5. An octagon 6. About 16 days 7. The Congo 8. Vixen 9. Jane Austen 10. Mercury